Health+Care+Resources

=Health Care Resources =


 * ====Providing health care has become a major challenge as the population of Caracas continues to rapidly grow, the amounts of pollution continue to increase, and the poor population increases in number. (Aguilar-Cauz & Safra, 536) ====


 * ====Caracas health institutions also include numerous clinics, including government-run clinics, sanatoriums, and rest homes. (Aguilar-Cauz & Safra, 537====

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 * Venezuela has both public and private healthcare services. The public health service is run by the government and offers free treatment but charges for prescriptions. Conditions, however, are often different to what tourists may be used to. Private hospitals offer a higher standard of treatment but these require large deposits or a credit card, even for emergencies, and can be very expensive. The private ambulance service in Venezuela will also cost a lot to use. Public ambulances can be found at Police and National Guard checkpoints (// alcabala //) all over the country or called from the nearest hospital or the // Defensa Civil  // in the case of an emergency.For minor illnesses or health problems, Venezuela has many good pharmacies which stock almost all brand medicines, and you can buy most brands sold at home, often at a cheaper price. Pharmacists will give you free advice, and you can purchase most medication without a prescription. (ThinkVenezuela)
 * ====The Venezuelan constitution guarantees the right to health care. A state-funded social program called Barrio Adentro, or inside the barrio, offers free comprehensive health care to all Venezuelans. This program has created small neighborhood clinics, larger regional clinics, and hospitals. [|(]McNulty) ====
 * ====Barrio Adentro ====
 * Healthcare initiative that invites Cuban doctors to treat, train and live with working-class Venezuelans in communities across the country.
 * ==== During the first 18 months of Barrio Adentro, the number of Cuban physicians in Venezuela grew to more than 13,000, their medical services available to approximately 17 million Venezuelans, or two thirds of the country's population, according to the Ministry of Health and Social Development. The director of the Pan American Health Organization has praised Venezuela, and President Hugo Chavez in particular, for "combating social exclusion" and demonstrating "new leadership in health."====
 * ====Poor Venezuelans say the program means they have access to medical services for the first time. But not, they stress, without their participation. Neighborhoods organize themselves into local health committees (Comités de Salud) to oversee the operations of clinics that the government funds. Barrio Adentro enlists the patient as a partner in the care of is or her health.====
 * Source: Maybarduk


 * ====The new constitution, approved by popular referendum and enacted in 2000, guarantees all citizens / the right to health and forbids the privatization of health services. The government has opened social security administration hospitals and even certain military general hospitals to the general public to assure a - more efficient and -equitable distribution of public health services. But the government's most ambitious visions lie ahead, in the consolidation of an effective primary care network and the alignment of all public health services under a single ministry (Maybarduk). ====

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 * ====The Venezuelan health system features private and public sectors, a mixed model the government intends to retain. Because many professional Venezuelans do not trust the public hospitals, and highly specialized services can be comparatively rare in the public system, private clinics retain a significant market. Through 2000, private spending on healthcare still outpaced public spending. But this is changing as the government steps up its efforts (Maybarduk). ====
 * ====The public health system has, for years, been divided among several masters, including the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the social security administration (IVSS) and the military, among others. Treatment at public hospitals has always been free, but their services have been limited (Maybarduk). ====
 * ====Further resources are flowing into the popular pool via the IVSS social security hospitals, formerly the exclusive domain of pensioned workers. IVSS hospitals are reputed to be better equipped and better funded, with more available specialties (Maybarduk). ====
 * ====The planned primary care network envisioned by the Ministry of Health and Social Development would include People's Hospitals, Popular Clinics and Popular Doctor's offices, replacing the existing order of hospitals and clinics of divergent ownership and access. The government is also considering constructing a factory to produce its own generic pharmaceuticals (Maybarduk). ====


 * ====In the Distrito Capital there are a total of 148 public health establishments====
 * 13 hospitals
 * 86 ambulatory services
 * 49 Barrio Adentro locations
 * Source: //Instituto nacional de estadistica: establecimientos de salud publicos por parrogiua, segin dependencia y tipo, 2006, por el Distrito Capital//
 * ====In the state of Miranda there are a total of 286 public health establishments ====
 * ====13 hospitals ====
 * ====273 ambulatory services ====
 * ====37 Barrio Adentro locations ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">54 private clinics ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Source: // Instituto nacional de estadistica: establecimientos de salud por municipio, segun dependencia y tipo, 2008, por el estado de Miranda //====

Model clinic from Barrio Adentro

Barrio Adentro--truly within the barrio

Hospital de Clinicas Caracas

The hospital at Centro Medico Docente

__Resources:__
Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela. (2008). //Instituto nacional de estadistica: establecimientos de salud por municipio, segun dependencia y tipo, 2008, por el estado de Miranda.// Retrieved September 18, 2011, from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[].

Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela. (2008). //Instituto nacional de estadistica: establecimientos de salud publicos por parrogiua, segin dependencia y tipo, 2006, por el Distrito Capital.// Retrieved September 18, 2011, from [].

Maybarduk, P. (2004, October). //A people's health system: Venezuela works to bring healthcare to the excluded//. Retrieved September 18, 2011, from [].

McNulty, C. (2009, June). //A look at the Venezuelan healthcare system//. Retrieved September 18, 2011, from <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">[].

ThinkVenezuela. (1998, November). //Healthcare//. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from [].